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ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 7, Issue 12, ( Part -2) December 2017, pp.71-77

RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

Study on the Effect of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Process

Parameters on the Printed Part Quality
Ngoc-Hien Tran*, Van-Nam Nguyen*, Anh-Vu Ngo*, Van-Cuong Nguyen*
*(Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Transport and Communications, Hanoi, Vietnam
Email: ulsanuni@gmail.com)

ABSTRACT
3D printing known as additive manufacturing (AM) has been applied for applications in different fields such as
aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and energy industries. It is the fact that 3D printing has gained a very wide
acceptance over the last decade. However, several significant hurdles prevent its wider adoption. One of the
most important barriers is the quality of the printed parts. Currently, many manufacturers and end users have
difficulty stating with certainty that parts or products produced via 3D printing will be of consistent quality,
strength, and reliability. Without this guarantee, many manufacturers will remain leery of AM technology. For
getting the good quality of the printed part, influence factors must be considered such as material properties,
machine specifications, printing conditions and process parameters. Among the large number of 3D printing
methods, fused deposition modeling (FDM) method is used widely for printing the plastic products. The paper
presents the analysis of the influence factors during FDM process reported in the literature as well as technology
handbook to drive out the appropriate values of the printing process parameters. Experimental results were
carried out with the optimal values of printing process in the 3D-FDM printer.
Keywords – 3D printing, Additive manufacturing, FDM, Printing quality, Surface roughness
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Date of Submission: 27-11-2017 Date of acceptance: 08-12-2017
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surface. The nozzle movement is controlled
I. INTRODUCTION according to the 3D data supplied to the printer.
3D printing is an advanced prototyping Each layer after settling will solidify and bond to the
technology. Currently, with the rapid growth of AM previously printed layer [6-8].
technology, there are a large number of 3D printing
methods in the market. Materials used for printing
are classified into groups such as polymers, metals,
ceramics, and cermets. In each group, materials are
classified into types such as powder, solid, and
liquid. For applications with plastic materials such as
ABS, PLA in filament form, FDM is a suitable 3D
printing method. Resent researches focus on
evaluation of the quality of the FDM and
applications of FDM for medical field [1]. For
developing and refining the FDM technique, many
vendors not only supply different AM systems to the Fig. 1 Mechanism of fused deposition modeling
market but also support the open source for users to
develop the control system for specific applications II. CORE FACTORS AFFECTING TO THE
[2]. In consideration of the printed part’s quality PRINTED PART
with FDM technique, evaluation of open source as Nowadays, the additive manufacturing
well as material properties have been carried out processes including FDM process are required to
[3,4]. One of important applications of the FDM deliver the consistent quality, high productivity rate,
technique is for education field with graphic design safety, low manufacturing cost, and short lead time.
and rapid prototyping courses [5]. In order to meet these requirements, the FDM
Figure 1 shows the principle of FDM process parameters must be established for each
printing with two different color printing materials. application [9]. The quality of the final part is
Using the method of extrusion of thermoplastic decided by powder properties, process parameters
materials based on the principle of melting plastic and FDM machine characteristics as shown in Fig.2.
fibers is deposited through a thermal nozzle on a

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ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 7, Issue 12, ( Part -2) December 2017, pp.71-77

For getting the best quality of the printed part,

influence factors must be considered such as
material properties, machine specifications, printing
conditions and process parameters.

Fig. 3 The printing system

Hofstaetter et al. studied on the temperature

distribution in the printing system with the E3D
HotEnd Extruder which is manufactured diameters
of 200÷400 μm in the nozzle tip [11]. The
temperature distribution ensures that the suitable
printing temperature for ABS material is 230 °C as
shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 2 Influence factors affecting the part quality

Currently, the default setting of printing

process parameters provided by the manufacturer is
used by user. However, in some cases, these default
values do not guarantee quality (dimension error and
strength) of the printed part, since there are several
process parameters that need to be considered [10].
The key success of the FDM process depends upon
the selection of optimal process parameters.
Determination of the optimal parameters for printing
process plays an important role to ensure quality of
products, improve dimensional precision, avoid Fig. 4 Temperature distribution in the printing
unacceptable wastes and large amount of scraps, system [11]
enhance productivity rates and reduce production 
time and cost [9]. In the literature, the several 2.2. Nozzle diameter
optimization techniques have been successfully used Choosing the optimum nozzle diameter is
for optimizing FDM process. very important, not only in terms of accuracy but
also in terms of the extrusion time [12]. The nozzle
2.1. The heated extrusion head diameter is in the range from 0.2 mm to 0.4 mm
Figure 3 shows the printing components [13]. The 0.3 mm diameter nozzle has been
including the printing head, heating material, and the suggested as the optimum value for extruding PLA
cooling unit to ensure the printing head temperature. material in consideration of the extrusion time. This
The printing unit is mounted on the rack and slide on effect is shown in the formula for calculating the
the guide shaft to perform X-axis motion for extrusion time as follows [12]:
printing.

In which V is the volume of the printed part (mm3), d

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Ngoc-Hien Tran. Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Application
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 7, Issue 12, ( Part -2) December 2017, pp.71-77
is the nozzle diameter (mm), f refers to the filament
feed rate (mm/s) and l is the total layer thickness
(mm).
2.3. Printing process parameters
The printing process parameters such as the
layer thickness, path width, printing speed, and path
direction as shown in Fig .5 play an important role
on the printed part quality. In the literature, many
researchers have reported the relationship of the
printing parameters with the quality as surface
roughness. The estimation of surface roughness for
FDM systems was carried out by Nourghassemi
[14].
Fig. 5 Printing process parameters
The factor having the most important
influence on the surface roughness is the layer
thickness compared to path width and printing
speed. It was also revealed that there was inverse
relation between layer thickness and surface
roughness [9].
2.4. Slicing and machine path generation
There is no standard machine path code for
rapid prototyping (RP) because of the differences in
the nature of rapid prototyping processes. Each RP
process, based on its characteristics and
requirements, uses the standard CAD file format to
extract the required data for the process. The CAPP
system needs a specialized machine path generator
to create an appropriate machine path file. Machine
path such as boundary path and hatch path should
produce the printing pattern that enables the machine
user to easily remove the fabricated part from the
surrounding material. The machine path generator
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provides the ability to process CAD models of any
size and complexity, the ability for machine path
verification before sending the file to the machine,
and the ability to fix the possible STL files
disconnection errors.
Fig. 6 Steps of slicing and machine path generation
[15]
The CAPP system uses STL files with the
ASCII format as input and works in two steps (Fig.
6). The first step generates slices at each increment
of Z by intersecting the XY plane with the facets
within the part. The second step uses all individual
unsorted intersection lines in each Z increment to
form the contour. This step includes sorting the
intersection lines, recognizing the closed loops and
disconnections (STL file error), and generating the
machine path such as boundary path and hatch path,
and simulation files.
In the first step the STL file is read as input.
Slice files are then generated by executing the
slicing algorithm. Only the intersection of those
facets that intersect current Z=z are calculated and
saved. In this step, one facet is read at a time from
the STL file. Then the intersection lines of this facet
with all XY planes are calculated. The intersection
lines are stored in the specified file for the associated
z increment. This results in one intersection line on
each XY plane. By repeating this process for all
facets, a set of slices is generated.
The example shown in Fig. 7 illustrates the
slicing algorithm. After the completion of the slicing
process, a set of vectors becomes available in each z
increment. These vectors are not connected and are
not in sequence.
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Fig. 7 Slicing algorithm [15]
Fig. 8 Machine path generation [15]
In the machine path generation process as
shown in Fig. 8, the software starts from one vector
and tries to find the next connected vector to this
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vector. Then it does the same for the newly found
vector until it reaches the start point of the first
vector (in the closed loop cases) or finds a vector
with no leading attachment (in faulty STL files
containing disconnections). To sort the vectors, the
algorithm reads one vector at a time from a slice file
and writes it to another file. This file is either path
file, when vector is connected to previous vector, or
temp file, when the vector is not connected to the
previous vector. Therefore, the sorting process does
not need a large amount of memory to sort the data,
and there is no limitation on the number of vectors in
a slice and on input file size. This algorithm can
generate a machine path even with disconnection
errors in the STL file [15]. At disconnection
instances the system sends a message to a log file
and turns the printer off and starts from a new
vector. In either case the printer is turned off and the
system starts printing from another start point.
III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Figure 9 shows the structure of a 3D printer
designed and manufactured. The Marlin software
was chosen as the 3D printing driver software.
Marlin is an Arduino-based program for 3D printing
controllers using the Atmel’s AVR microcontrollers.
For each design of the 3D printers, it is necessary to
set the following information: information of the
control circuit; printer name; number of plastic
extrusion; source type; temperature sensor; set up
the extruder temperature stabilization; minimum
allowable temperature; maximum allowable
temperature; power supply for heat table; set up to
prevent temperature problems for the printer; set the
print area size; and set up the LCD controller.
Fig. 9 Model of the manufactured 3D-FDM printer
Repetier-Host V1.6.2 software is used to
create G-code for 3D printer. The parameters on the
Repetier-Host software must be properly installed
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ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 7, Issue 12, ( Part -2) December 2017, pp.71-77

with the 3D printer to be used.

The specifications of the 3D-FDM printer are as
follows:
- 3D printer with FDM printing technology;
- Printing materials: ABS, PLA plastics;
- Maximum product size: 310x310x250mm;
- Printing thickness: 0.1 ÷ 0.5 mm.

Fig. 11 Printed gears and shafts in the gear box

Fig. 10 Driver system for printing process

Figure 10 illustrates the 3D-FDM machine's

driver system. The motors (described by 1 and 2)
drive the printing head (described by 11) to translate
up and down along the Z axis through screws and
shafts (described by 8 and 9). The printing head is
driven to translate along the X axis by the motor
(described by 5) through the belt conveyor
(described by 7). The build platform (described by
10) translates along the Y axis using the motor
(described by 12) through the belt conveyor
(described by 6). The motors (described by 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 and 12) are NEMA 17 42H42HM-0504A-18 Fig. 12 Steps for printing the gear
motors. The motors (described by 3, 4) are used to
drive the roll of plastic material for the printing
head.
Printing the elements such as gears and
shafts, then assembling these elements to a gear box
as shown in Fig. 11 are a case study of this research.
Systematic procedure for printing an element as the
gear is described in Fig .12.

Fig. 13 Slicing model of the gear

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Ngoc-Hien Tran. Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Application
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 7, Issue 12, ( Part -2) December 2017, pp.71-77
Fig. 14 Printing process
Slicing model of the gear and the printing process
are shown in Fig. 13 and 14, respectively.
Parameters for printing gears and shafts are as
follows:
- Nozzle diameter: 0.3 mm;
- Layer thickness: 0.2 mm;
- Printing speed: 15÷20 mm/s;
- Filament diameter: 1.8 mm;
- Path style: Rectilinear;
- Materials: ABS, PLA;
- Printing temperature: 205 0C (PLA); 230 0C
(ABS).
Gears and shafts were printed successfully
on the 3D-FDM printer with the above mentioned
printing parameters. The geometrical models of
these parts are shown in Fig. 11. The dimensional
accuracy of the printed parts is in the allowable
limits. The deviation is recognized by comparing the
CAD model with the scanned model of the printed
part.
IV. CONCLUSION
3D printing with FDM method are applied
widely for printing the plastic parts. For education
field in universities, rapid prototyping from 3D
printing enables to build 3D models for graphic
design and rapid prototyping courses. On the basis
of inheriting the available research for training in
universities, the authors proposed the design and
manufacture of 3D printer using FDM printing
method (3D-FDM) [16]. This paper presents the
results on analysis of influence factors to the part
quality. Then, the optimal values of printing process
are applied for printing the gears and shafts of the
gear box with ABS and PLA materials. In those
applications, for education in universities, 3D
models for training are focused on.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was funded by Vietnam Ministry of
Education and Training. [Grant number: B2016-
GHA-06].
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Ngoc-Hien Tran "Study on the Effect of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Process
Parameters on the Printed Part Quality.” International Journal of Engineering Research and
Applications (IJERA) , vol. 7, no. 12, 2017, pp. 71-77.

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